Water Resources

Dr Manju Sharma
 Introduction
• Water is a natural resource

• Water occupies about 71% of the earth’s surface

• In India average rain water is about 200cm per

year
– Highest is Cherrapunji 1200 cm
– Lowest if Upper Leh and Kutch 15 cm

• Due to uneven distribution and man-made

systems, some part of India face flood while
many parts face drought.
Water Cycle
 Water Resources

• Ocean – 97%

• Fresh water – 3%
– 2% are frozen at poles
– 1% is consumed only
 Use of water resource

• Agriculture
70% (world), 87% (India)

• Industry
22% (world), 8% (India)

• Domestic Use
8% (world), 5% (India)
Challenges in water management
• Over-use

• Washing Away (wasteage)

• Pollution (Sewer and Industrial Toxic

Waste)
Reasons for water mismanagement
• Growing Population

• Inefficient irrigation

• Pollution

• Inadequate storage and harvesting means

 Facts about water
• An average person needs 20-40 Litres of water
per day

• The demand of water per person has doubled in

50 years

• About 1 billion people don’t have access to clean

water

• There will be 48 countries facing serious water

shortage by 2025. India is one of them.
 Mismanagement of Water
• Mismanagement of water occurs at all levels-
Personal level (daily use of people), Agriculture
level and Industrial level

• This is due to overutilization and mis-utilization of

water resources

• Agriculture water gets polluted due to use of

chemical fertilizers and pesticides

• Industries tend to dump their chemical waste in

rivers and lakes for economic benefits
 Prevention of Mismanagement
• Awareness about water campaign by governments to
ensure limited personal uses

• Use of biomass as fertilizers and non-toxic pesticides

such as neem-products

• Use of integrated pest management system

• Use of drip irrigation system

• Awareness among industrial users

• Strict Govt restrictions and penalties on industrial

water pollution
 Global Climate Change
• Changes in global climate due to industrial
practices, industrialization and urbanization
has led to global climate change such as
Global warming

• These climate changes affect the water cycle

too, and this in turn deepens the problem of
water shortage
 Floods
• Flood is a natural disaster

• Heavy and prolonged rainfall causes overflow of

lakes and rivers leads to water logging which is
called flood

• Flood can be defined as an irregular accumulation

of water in an area

• Gujarat Rajashtan, Haryana, Bengal, Bihar,

Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra has
seen recent floods
 Causes of floods
• Overflow of Inland or tidal waters

• Run-off of surface waters

– When reservoirs have not been desilted and they are
weak

• Mudflow
– Occurs on hillsides
• Breaching of dams

• Deforestation catchment of intensified use of

river flood planes
 Effects of Floods
• Loss of lives

• Loss of property

• Spread of diseases

• Destruction of dwelling areas and fertile

agricultural land which get buried in mud

• Economic Loss

• Homeless people
 Drought
• Drought is a natural calamity

• Defined as long-term deficiency of precipitation

in a particular area

• Drought prone areas are faced with irregular

periods of famine

• Drought brings a major loss in economy, thus

affecting the national economy as well as loss of
lives and livelihood
 Types of Drought
• Meteorological Drought
– When high temperature, low humidity, intense
sunshine and violent winds increase evaporation
and transpiration
• Agricultural Drought
– When soil-water deficiency occurs due to
precipitation shortage
• Hydrological Drought
– When there is shortfall of precipitation on surface
water
 Control of effect of Drought
• Water harvesting during good rainfall

• Prevention of deforestation

• Afforestation
 Dams
• Dams are made to manage a river systems
interrupting their natural flow.

• Defined as a barrier across flowing water

• It slows down the natural flow of the water and

creates a water reservoir lake or impoundment

• Dams stores the water for the purpose of

irrigation, generation of electricity, aquaculture
and recreational activities
 Benefits of dams
• There are about 45000 dams in the world

• About 40% of the world food production depend on

irrigated farming, that comes from dams

• 21% of total electricity is hydroelectricity

• Large dams provide water to towns and cities

• 13% of dams in the world control floods

• Dams help in creating new wetlands for improved eco-

systmes activities like boating and fishing.
 Problems due to dams
• People are displaced due to large constructions

• Loss of forest and wildlife habitat and degradation of

lands

• Water quality is deteriorated and floods are caused

• Aquatic biodiversity, fisheries, wetland and marine

ecosystems and lost

• Lands are affected by water logging and salinity

• Fragmentation and physical transformation of rivers

 Water Conflicts
There are water conflicts at several levels from local levels to
international levels due to the shortage of water across the
world

• Ethiopia and Egypt have water conflict for Nile water

• India and Bangladesh have an agreement about Ganga

water, but there are occasional conflicts

• Karnataka and Tamilnadu fight for Cauvery water

• Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh fight for Krishna water

• Haryana and Punjab fight over Sutlej-Yamuna water